- Walter C. Teagle
Walter Clark Teagle (May 1878 –
January 9 ,1962 ), was responsible for leadingStandard Oil to the forefront of the oil industry and significantly expanding the company's presence in thepetrochemical field.Biography
Born in Ohio into a wealthy oil family, Teagle was the grandson of Maurice B. Clark, one of
John D. Rockefeller 's former partners inStandard Oil . Teagle's father, John Teagle, headed Scofield, Shurmer and Teagle,Standard Oil 's competitor in Cleveland. Teagle enteredCornell University with the class of 1900, but graduated early in 1899 with a B.S. in chemistry. As a student, Teagle was said to have "managed everything," serving as manager for two publications, the football team, class politics, and as chair of the committees for class promenades and cotillions. He was a member of theQuill and Dagger society andAlpha Delta Phi .After graduation, Teagle remained involved in
Cornell University , serving as a trustee from 1924 to 1954 and donating funds for the Teagle Hall athletic building. In 1923, Cornell announced that Teagle was their highest salaried alumnus. He served as vice president of the Cornell Club of New York and on a variety of committees.Teagle married Edith Murray on
October 3 ,1903 . In 1962, he died at the age of 83 inConnecticut after a long illness.Oil career
In 1901,
Standard Oil bought out the Teagle family refinery, and placed Teagle in charge. Two years later, he joined the export committee ofStandard Oil of New Jersey , traveling around the world for the next seven and a half years. He became a director ofStandard Oil in 1910, and a vice president shortly thereafter. During this time, he acquired operations inVenezuela andIran . At the age of 39, Teagle became the youngest president ofStandard Oil of New Jersey, then known as Esso, for S. O. of NJ, and since 1972, known asExxon . He served as president (1917-1937) and chairman (1937-1942) of the company. Under his leadership, Standard Oil became the world's largest oil producer, increasing market share from 2% to 11.5%. [ [http://www.hbs.edu/leadership/database/leaders/888/ 20th Century American Leaders Database] ] He helped pioneer worker representation on refinery councils and the eight-hour workday. [cite news | first = | last = | title = Death Notice | publisher =Time Magazine | page = | date =January 19 ,1962 [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,895874,00.html] ]Honors
Teagle was selected as one of 20th Century Great American Business Leaders by
Harvard Business School and was inducted into theAutomotive Hall of Fame in 1974 for his work atStandard Oil in expanding research and development of petroleum-based products, leading to fuel refinements and diverse petrochemical uses such as in cosmetics and food preservatives. [ [http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honors/index.php?cmd=view&id=133&type=inductees Automotive Hall of Fame] ] He appears on the cover of theDecember 9 ,1929 issue ofTime Magazine [ [http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101291209,00.html?internalid=AC Time Magazine archive] ] . He was also selected as one of the "100 Most Notable Cornellians" [cite book | last = Altschuler | first = Glenn C. | coauthors = Isaac Kramnick, R. Laurence Moore | year = 2003 | title = The 100 Most Notable Cornellians | publisher = Cornell University Press | location=Ithaca, N.Y. | id = ISBN 0-8014-3958-2] and inducted into theCornell University Athletic Hall of Fame. [ [http://cornellbigred.cstv.com/trads/corn-hof-alpha.html Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame] ]Other positions
Teagle was very active in labor, business, and trade organizations and councils. He served as head of President Hoover's job sharing movement and on the
National Labor Board during its brief tenure from 1933 to 1934, helping handle labor disputes. He was appointed to President Roosevelt's National Defense Mediation Board andNational War Labor Board . He was also on the national Business Advisory Council and a director of theNational Foreign Trade Council andFederal Reserve Bank .In 1944, he established The Teagle Foundation "to advance the well-being and general good of mankind throughout the world." At Teagle's request, the foundation's directors always include an individual appointed by
Cornell University and an individual appointed byExxonMobil . [ [http://www.teaglefoundation.org/about/history.aspx The Teagle Foundation] ]Controversies
Teagle has been accused of contributing to
Nazi Germany duringWorld War II through his involvement with German chemical companyI.G. Farben . As a director ofI.G. Farben 's American subsidiary, he allied Standard Oil with the German company and conducted research jointly. Standard Oil supplied information toI.G. Farben on how to manufacturetetraethyl lead andsynthetic rubber , both critical resources to the war effort. Because Teagle sold patent rights forsynthetic rubber ,Standard Oil delayed American industrial readiness by not producing rubber without German permission. Faced with a Justice Department investigation, Teagle convinced President Roosevelt that a suit would hurt the war effort, instead choosing to pay an out-of-court fine. The result was a fall in public favor forStandard Oil and the resignation of Teagle in 1942. [cite news | first = | last = | title = Walter Teagle's Nazi Connection | publisher =The Cornell Daily Sun | page = | date =September 27 ,1978 [http://iarchives.library.cornell.edu/content.php?c=y19789&d=09.27.D12.4.2&ispage=&pdflink=doc18.pdf&thumblink=doc18.jpg&searchparams=xml%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fiarchives.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fiarchives.cgi%3Fa%3Dpdfh%26pdfxml%3D1%26qbare%3Dteagle%20farben%26d%3DD12.4.2%26c%3Dy18801] ] ["Trading With the Enemy", Charles Higham, 1983: Delacorte Press, New York NY; Pp. 32 - 62 ISBN 0-440-09064-4]References
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